MEJO 141- Getting to know the dead guys: Part 1 | Due Aug.

23 | NAME: Trevor Du
**Please save your assignment as a Word document or PDF. **

The goal of this exercise is to ID what each of these philosophers focuses on/recommends you employ to make an ethical decision. Two resources will help
you complete this chart:
1) Chapter 1 of the textbook + pp. 182-184 (communitarianism and social justice)
2) Ethical communication focus handout (Sakai – Resources tab – Dead Guys folder)

No need to use complete sentences. Just the basics – don’t shovel everything into each box! I want to get an idea of how well you understand who’s who
and what each one recommends to help us make an ethical decision.

Philosopher Key elements to apply – what steps do you take to make an ethical decision? Primary ethical communication focus
Aristotle “Virtue ethics” Moral agent
The “golden mean”, the idea that virtue lies in between excess and deficiency
One must take the following steps:
-know what one is doing
-select an act “for its own sake---in order to flourish”
-select this act from a place of “firm and unchanging character”
Kant “Categorical imperative” Act
An individual should “act as if the choices one makes for oneself could become
universal law” and “treat each individual as an end rather than a means”
Comparable to the biblical “golden rule”
Mill Utilitarianism, or the idea of “the greatest good for the greatest number” Consequences
“Valuational hedonism”
Claimed that everyone’s happiness is equally valuable, and “pleasure is the only
intrinsic moral end”
Ross “Pluralistic Theory of Value” Context
Competing ethical “duties” of fidelity, reparation, gratitude, justice, beneficence,
self-improvement, and not injuring others
What is ethical vs unethical depends heavily on the situation
Communitarian Social justice as the main ethical value Individual(s) or audience(s)
Prioritizes the needs of the community over the needs of the individual